The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

The Redskins’ leading rusher in 2010 suffered a broken hand in practice on August 3. At the time, Mike Shanahan said that that Torain would be out from seven to 10 days. Even after it was revealed that Torain had undergone surgery to insert screws into the hand, the estimated time that he would be sidelined did not change.

It is now about three and a half weeks later and Torain just returned to practice having missed the first three preseason games. Last year he missed four games with a pulled hamstring (and he also had the bye week to heal). The book developing on Torain is that not only is he injury prone but that when he gets hurt he takes a long time to heal.

The Redskins drafted running backs Roy Helu out of Nebraska and Evan Royster of Penn State in April and they traded for Tim Hightower shortly after the lockout ended. Helu has been the team’s leading rusher in the preseason and Hightower is right behind him.

It appears that Hightower already has taken the starting job from Torain. Making as clear a statement as he generally makes on such matters today, Shanahan said, "If you were betting in Vegas, you're probably betting that direction.”

The good news here for Torain is that Hightower has never carried a heavy load consistently. In his three years in Arizona he averaged just over nine carries in a game. He had 22 carries in one game during his rookie season in 2008 and last year he had 18 carries against the Broncos. Besides those games he has no more than 15 rushing attempts in a game. Hightower has fewer than 10 carries in 25 of his 48 career games.

But the question for Torain is who will get any touches that Hightower doesn’t get. Helu has been very solid during the preseason, averaging 4.9 yards on his 35 carries. On a 51-yard carry against the Rams he displayed rare athletic ability in avoiding going out of bounds and breaking up the sideline for the big gain. It will be hard to keep him off of the field.

In addition, Helu is getting better at blitz pickups, frequently an obstacle to rookies getting playing time. Torain never has mastered pass protection. If Helu proves to be an explosive change of pace runner and you don’t lose anything in pass protection, what reason would there be to give any snaps to Torain.

It is a long season and Torain could well contribute before it’s all over. But it would not be at all surprising to see Torain start the year on the inactive list and remain there until something happens at the running back position.

Red_One43 wrote:Torain back to practice so what now?

The Redskins’ leading rusher in 2010 suffered a broken hand in practice on August 3. At the time, Mike Shanahan said that that Torain would be out from seven to 10 days. Even after it was revealed that Torain had undergone surgery to insert screws into the hand, the estimated time that he would be sidelined did not change.

It is now about three and a half weeks later and Torain just returned to practice having missed the first three preseason games. Last year he missed four games with a pulled hamstring (and he also had the bye week to heal). The book developing on Torain is that not only is he injury prone but that when he gets hurt he takes a long time to heal.

The Redskins drafted running backs Roy Helu out of Nebraska and Evan Royster of Penn State in April and they traded for Tim Hightower shortly after the lockout ended. Helu has been the team’s leading rusher in the preseason and Hightower is right behind him.

It appears that Hightower already has taken the starting job from Torain. Making as clear a statement as he generally makes on such matters today, Shanahan said, "If you were betting in Vegas, you're probably betting that direction.”

The good news here for Torain is that Hightower has never carried a heavy load consistently. In his three years in Arizona he averaged just over nine carries in a game. He had 22 carries in one game during his rookie season in 2008 and last year he had 18 carries against the Broncos. Besides those games he has no more than 15 rushing attempts in a game. Hightower has fewer than 10 carries in 25 of his 48 career games.

But the question for Torain is who will get any touches that Hightower doesn’t get. Helu has been very solid during the preseason, averaging 4.9 yards on his 35 carries. On a 51-yard carry against the Rams he displayed rare athletic ability in avoiding going out of bounds and breaking up the sideline for the big gain. It will be hard to keep him off of the field.

In addition, Helu is getting better at blitz pickups, frequently an obstacle to rookies getting playing time. Torain never has mastered pass protection. If Helu proves to be an explosive change of pace runner and you don’t lose anything in pass protection, what reason would there be to give any snaps to Torain.

It is a long season and Torain could well contribute before it’s all over. But it would not be at all surprising to see Torain start the year on the inactive list and remain there until something happens at the running back position.

http://www.realredskins.com/rich-tandle ... t-now.html

Red_One43 wrote:

Countertrey wrote:

Red_One43 wrote:

BigRedskinDaddy wrote:Hightower has been playing lights out. I really like the aggressive way he finishes off runs, and his one-cut and go style is a good fit with our ZBS O-line. Helu is a home run threat but Royster doesn't impress me too much. He's a little small IMO, and his speed is questionable. Torain is the odd man out here; he's a quality back but the roster is a little choked with quality backs right at the moment.

I am with you with Royster - he has no speed. He has no power. He has a wiggle in his step that makes people miss. He is good for the ZBS because he is a one cut guy who doens't make many mistakes. Unless he shows something more in the preseason, he can make it to the practice squad w/o being picked up. There are plenty of backs out there like him that are more versatile to fit other systems.

Disagree.
Royster WILL NOT clear waivers to get to the PS... not that I have a real problem with it... but he will develop into a solid one-cut runner with some work.

I agree with you that he will develop as a solid one-cut runner.
As far as clearing waivers to go on the PS, what have you seen, at this point in Royster's development that makes you feel that GMs and coaches will claim him off waivers assuming that he is cut?

Red_One43 wrote:

frankcal20 wrote:

yupchagee wrote:

Red_One43 wrote:

Countertrey wrote:

Red_One43 wrote:

BigRedskinDaddy wrote:Hightower has been playing lights out. I really like the aggressive way he finishes off runs, and his one-cut and go style is a good fit with our ZBS O-line. Helu is a home run threat but Royster doesn't impress me too much. He's a little small IMO, and his speed is questionable. Torain is the odd man out here; he's a quality back but the roster is a little choked with quality backs right at the moment.

I am with you with Royster - he has no speed. He has no power. He has a wiggle in his step that makes people miss. He is good for the ZBS because he is a one cut guy who doens't make many mistakes. Unless he shows something more in the preseason, he can make it to the practice squad w/o being picked up. There are plenty of backs out there like him that are more versatile to fit other systems.

Disagree.
Royster WILL NOT clear waivers to get to the PS... not that I have a real problem with it... but he will develop into a solid one-cut runner with some work.

I agree with you that he will develop as a solid one-cut runner.
As far as clearing waivers to go on the PS, what have you seen, at this point in Royster's development that makes you feel that GMs and coaches will claim him off waivers assuming that he is cut?

His performance against Pitt. 15 carries 66 yds. I know it was against backups, but it will be enough to attract attention.

He was also playing WITH backups too. So take it for what it was.

http://www.sportsxchange.com/DS97/walsh/walsh2hb.htm

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiti ... id=2350381

frankcal20 wrote:

Red_One43 wrote:

frankcal20 wrote:

yupchagee wrote:

Red_One43 wrote:

Countertrey wrote:

Red_One43 wrote:

BigRedskinDaddy wrote:Hightower has been playing lights out. I really like the aggressive way he finishes off runs, and his one-cut and go style is a good fit with our ZBS O-line. Helu is a home run threat but Royster doesn't impress me too much. He's a little small IMO, and his speed is questionable. Torain is the odd man out here; he's a quality back but the roster is a little choked with quality backs right at the moment.

I am with you with Royster - he has no speed. He has no power. He has a wiggle in his step that makes people miss. He is good for the ZBS because he is a one cut guy who doens't make many mistakes. Unless he shows something more in the preseason, he can make it to the practice squad w/o being picked up. There are plenty of backs out there like him that are more versatile to fit other systems.

Disagree.
Royster WILL NOT clear waivers to get to the PS... not that I have a real problem with it... but he will develop into a solid one-cut runner with some work.

I agree with you that he will develop as a solid one-cut runner.
As far as clearing waivers to go on the PS, what have you seen, at this point in Royster's development that makes you feel that GMs and coaches will claim him off waivers assuming that he is cut?

His performance against Pitt. 15 carries 66 yds. I know it was against backups, but it will be enough to attract attention.

He was also playing WITH backups too. So take it for what it was.

http://www.sportsxchange.com/DS97/walsh/walsh2hb.htm

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiti ... id=2350381

Thanks for links. Feel free to state your point.

1niksder wrote:

Red_One43 wrote:

Countertrey wrote:

Red_One43 wrote:

BigRedskinDaddy wrote:Hightower has been playing lights out. I really like the aggressive way he finishes off runs, and his one-cut and go style is a good fit with our ZBS O-line. Helu is a home run threat but Royster doesn't impress me too much. He's a little small IMO, and his speed is questionable. Torain is the odd man out here; he's a quality back but the roster is a little choked with quality backs right at the moment.

I am with you with Royster - he has no speed. He has no power. He has a wiggle in his step that makes people miss. He is good for the ZBS because he is a one cut guy who doens't make many mistakes. Unless he shows something more in the preseason, he can make it to the practice squad w/o being picked up. There are plenty of backs out there like him that are more versatile to fit other systems.

Disagree.
Royster WILL NOT clear waivers to get to the PS... not that I have a real problem with it... but he will develop into a solid one-cut runner with some work.

I agree with you that he will develop as a solid one-cut runner.
As far as clearing waivers to go on the PS, what have you seen, at this point in Royster's development that makes you feel that GMs and coaches will claim him off waivers assuming that he is cut?

He did nothing in week three and will do the same in the last game, I'm not saying he played a poor game, he's not one the field at all. It's like they have shut him down, next he'll be released right when all teams go down to the final 53. No GM will get down to 52 just to pick up Evan after he has disappeared halfway through the pre-season. They won't know why he was shut down or if there is more problems other than blitz pickup. At that point he can sign with any teams PS.

He likes the system, and the Redskins pay on the high end when it comes to what PS players make. He also will know of Torain's injury history.

I think the plan is to sneak him through waivers and place him on he
PS until RT goes on IR

Irn-Bru wrote:Well,

keep in mind that a team will have to sign Royster to their active roster to keep him from hitting waivers

. Sure, lots of teams will want him, but do we really think he'll find an actual roster spot somewhere? I'm not so sure he'll get snapped up.

Countertrey wrote:

Irn-Bru wrote:Well,

keep in mind that a team will have to sign Royster to their active roster to keep him from hitting waivers

. Sure, lots of teams will want him, but do we really think he'll find an actual roster spot somewhere? I'm not so sure he'll get snapped up.

I believe that's true ONLY if signed from the Practice Squad. He must first sit on the waiver wire... where he can be snatched with NO additional requirements... for a period of time (I believe 72 hours). Once that time is up, he can be signed to a PS contract. A team pulling him from the PS must then add him to the active roster.

He likes the system, and the Redskins pay on the high end when it comes to what PS players make. He also will know of Torain's injury history.

1niksder wrote:

Countertrey wrote:

Irn-Bru wrote:Well,

keep in mind that a team will have to sign Royster to their active roster to keep him from hitting waivers

. Sure, lots of teams will want him, but do we really think he'll find an actual roster spot somewhere? I'm not so sure he'll get snapped up.

I believe that's true ONLY if signed from the Practice Squad. He must first sit on the waiver wire... where he can be snatched with NO additional requirements... for a period of time (I believe 72 hours). Once that time is up, he can be signed to a PS contract. A team pulling him from the PS must then add him to the active roster.

Like I said above once he clears waivers he'll b signed to the practice squad that he wants to be on.

AND

He likes the system, and the Redskins pay on the high end when it comes to what PS players make. He also will know of Torain's injury history.

Countertrey wrote:

1niksder wrote:

Countertrey wrote:

Irn-Bru wrote:Well,

keep in mind that a team will have to sign Royster to their active roster to keep him from hitting waivers

. Sure, lots of teams will want him, but do we really think he'll find an actual roster spot somewhere? I'm not so sure he'll get snapped up.

I believe that's true ONLY if signed from the Practice Squad. He must first sit on the waiver wire... where he can be snatched with NO additional requirements... for a period of time (I believe 72 hours). Once that time is up, he can be signed to a PS contract. A team pulling him from the PS must then add him to the active roster.

Like I said above once he clears waivers he'll b signed to the practice squad that he wants to be on.

AND

He likes the system, and the Redskins pay on the high end when it comes to what PS players make. He also will know of Torain's injury history.

OK... I'm beaten. Defeated. I will sulk now.


Before you get cute... I said SULK